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is a Japanese
superhero A superhero or superheroine is a stock character that typically possesses ''superpowers'', abilities beyond those of ordinary people, and fits the role of the hero, typically using his or her powers to help the world become a better place, ...
manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...
series written and illustrated by
Kōhei Horikoshi is a Japanese manga artist known for creating the manga series '' Ōmagadoki Dōbutsuen'', '' Barrage'' and ''My Hero Academia'', all of which have been serialized in Shueisha's ''shōnen'' manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Jump''. Horikoshi is ...
. It has been serialized in
Shueisha (lit. "Gathering of Intellect Publishing Co., Ltd.") is a Japanese company headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. The company was established in 1925 as the entertainment-related publishing division of Japanese publisher Shogakukan. The foll ...
's ''shōnen'' manga magazine ''
Weekly Shōnen Jump is a weekly ''shōnen'' manga anthology published in Japan by Shueisha under the ''Jump'' line of magazines. The manga series within the magazine consist of many action scenes and a fair amount of comedy. The chapters of the series that run ...
'' since July 2014, with its chapters additionally collected into 38 ''
tankōbon is the Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or cultur ...
'' volumes as of June 2023. Set in a world where
superpowers A superpower is a state with a dominant position characterized by its extensive ability to exert influence or project power on a global scale. This is done through the combined means of economic, military, technological, political and cultural st ...
(called "Quirks") have become commonplace, the story follows
Izuku Midoriya , also known by his hero name , is a superhero and the main protagonist of the manga series ''My Hero Academia'', created by Kōhei Horikoshi. In the series, he is an ambitious first-year high schooler and the 9th (and current) holder of "One ...
, a boy who was born without a Quirk but still dreams of becoming a
superhero A superhero or superheroine is a stock character that typically possesses ''superpowers'', abilities beyond those of ordinary people, and fits the role of the hero, typically using his or her powers to help the world become a better place, ...
himself. He is scouted by the world's greatest hero,
All Might The ''My Hero Academia'' manga and anime series features a vast world with an extensive cast of characters created by Kōhei Horikoshi. The series takes place in a fictional world where more than 80% of the global population possesses some for ...
, who bestows his Quirk to Midoriya after recognizing his potential, and helps to enroll him in a prestigious high school for superheroes in training. The manga spawned a
media franchise A media franchise, also known as a multimedia franchise, is a collection of related media in which several derivative works have been produced from an original creative work of fiction, such as a film, a work of literature, a television program or ...
, having inspired numerous
spin-off Spin-off may refer to: *Spin-off (media), a media work derived from an existing work *Corporate spin-off, a type of corporate action that forms a new company or entity * Government spin-off, civilian goods which are the result of military or gove ...
manga, such as '' My Hero Academia: Smash!!'', '' My Hero Academia: Vigilantes'', and '' My Hero Academia: Team-Up Missions''. The series has expanded into
light novels A light novel (, Hepburn: ''raito noberu'') is a style of young adult novel primarily targeting high school and middle school students. The term "light novel" is a ''wasei-eigo'', or a Japanese term formed from words in the English language ...
, stage plays, and various types of merchandise and media, including numerous
video games Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device to gener ...
. It has also been adapted into an
anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...
television series produced by
Bones A bone is a rigid organ that constitutes part of the skeleton in most vertebrate animals. Bones protect the various other organs of the body, produce red and white blood cells, store minerals, provide structure and support for the body, an ...
. The first season aired in Japan from April to June 2016, followed by a second season from April to September 2017, then a third season from April to September 2018, a fourth season from October 2019 to April 2020, a fifth season from March to September 2021, a sixth season from October 2022 to March 2023, and an upcoming seventh season. It has also received three animated films, titled '' My Hero Academia: Two Heroes'', '' My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising'', and '' My Hero Academia: World Heroes' Mission'', and eight
original video animations , abbreviated as OVA and sometimes as OAV (original animation video), are Japanese animated films and series made specially for release in home video formats without prior showings on television or in theaters, though the first part of an OVA s ...
(OVAs). There are plans for a live-action film by
Legendary Entertainment Legendary Pictures Productions, LLC (doing business as Legendary Entertainment or simply Legendary) is an American film production and mass media company based in Burbank, California, founded by Thomas Tull in 2000. The company has collaborated ...
. ''My Hero Academia'' has become a commercial success, appearing on ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' bestseller list several times. By February 2023, the manga had over 85 million copies in circulation including sales of spin-offs, making it one of the best-selling manga series of all time. Critical reception has also been positive with reviewers praising the manga for its art, characters, storytelling, action sequences, and the use of
pop culture Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * Pop (Gas al ...
references to Western
superhero comics Superhero comics are one of the most common genres of American comic books. The genre rose to prominence in the 1930s and became extremely popular in the 1940s and has remained the dominant form of comic book in North America since the 1960s. Su ...
; the anime series has received additional praise for its animation, music, pacing, action sequences, and voice performances in both Japanese and English. The manga and anime have both won several awards, including the
Sugoi Japan Award is an event established by Yomiuri Shimbun in 2015. Awards are given in four categories: Manga, Anime, Light novel and Entertainment novel. In the first year, the award was given to '' Puella Magi Madoka Magica'' as 'Grand Prix'. The word ''Sugo ...
and
Harvey Award The Harvey Awards are given for achievement in comic books. Named for writer-artist Harvey Kurtzman, the Harvey Awards were founded by Gary Groth in 1988, president of the publisher Fantagraphics, to be the successor to the Kirby Awards that were ...
for Best Manga, and received two nominations for Anime of the Year at the
Crunchyroll Anime Awards The Crunchyroll Anime Awards, also known simply as The Anime Awards, are awards given annually by the anime streaming service Crunchyroll to recognize the best anime of the previous year. Announced in December 2016, the awards were first prese ...
.


Synopsis


Setting

''My Hero Academia'' is set in a world where about 80% of the human population has gained superpowers called . Quirks vary widely and can be inherited. Among the Quirk-enhanced individuals, a few of them earn the title of
Heroes Heroes or Héroes may refer to: * Hero, one who displays courage and self-sacrifice for the greater good Film * ''Heroes'' (1977 film), an American drama * ''Heroes'' (2008 film), an Indian Hindi film Gaming * ''Heroes of Might and Magic'' ...
, who cooperate with authorities in rescue operations and apprehending criminals who abuse their Quirks, commonly known as
Villains A villain (also known as a "black hat" or "bad guy"; the feminine form is villainess) is a stock character, whether based on a historical narrative or one of literary fiction. ''Random House Unabridged Dictionary'' defines such a character as ...
. In addition, Heroes who excel on their duties gain celebrity status and are recognized as . Heroes are ranked in popularity, with higher ranking heroes receiving public appeal, although it is not uncommon for rookie heroes to gain popularity as well. Initially the people who volunteered to do their heroic duties without permission were recognized as . Students who have acted as vigilantes are not allowed to work as heroes due to Quirk restriction laws managed by the . While the act of vigilantism is inherently illegal, the vigilantes themselves represent a gray area. The Hero Public Safety Commission originally enlisted vigilantes to do their dirty work until they became too organized for the vigilantes to properly deal with, so they abandoned the idea and instead focused on recruiting Pro Heroes. Some vigilantes wear costumes, but since they do not have access to support companies like heroes do, they are made out of regular clothes and everyday items. There are two types of
internships An internship is a period of work experience offered by an organization for a limited period of time. Once confined to medical graduates, internship is used practice for a wide range of placements in businesses, non-profit organizations and gover ...
that offer the opportunity to become a Pro Hero. The first type is the Hero Agency Internships in which the Pro Heroes can send a request to students whom wish to work under them, such as in the aftermath of the Sports Festival. It involves a student shadowing a Pro Hero, listening to their advice, and watching them in action for a week. Since the students are unlicensed, they cannot legally work as heroes. The second type is the Hero Work-Study, where, after a student acquires a Hero License after passing the Provisional Hero License Exam, they are treated as real
sidekick A sidekick is a slang expression for a close companion or colleague (not necessarily in fiction) who is, or is generally regarded as, subordinate to the one they accompany. Some well-known fictional sidekicks are Don Quixote's Sancho Panza, ...
s, which allows them to participate in relief efforts during emergency situations. This also allows them to gain experience and can help them get noticed by other Pro Heroes who might hire them as full-time sidekicks once they graduate.


Plot

Izuku Midoriya , also known by his hero name , is a superhero and the main protagonist of the manga series ''My Hero Academia'', created by Kōhei Horikoshi. In the series, he is an ambitious first-year high schooler and the 9th (and current) holder of "One ...
is a young man who dreams of becoming a
Hero A hero (feminine: heroine) is a real person or a main fictional character who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, courage, or Physical strength, strength. Like other formerly gender-specific terms (like ...
despite being bullied by his childhood friend
Katsuki Bakugo , also known by his nickname and his hero name , is a superhero and one of the main protagonists of the manga series ''My Hero Academia'', created by Kōhei Horikoshi. His Quirk is , which allows him to make explosions from his hands by detonati ...
for lacking a Quirk. After an encounter with his idol,
All Might The ''My Hero Academia'' manga and anime series features a vast world with an extensive cast of characters created by Kōhei Horikoshi. The series takes place in a fictional world where more than 80% of the global population possesses some for ...
, who is the world's greatest hero, Izuku is chosen by All Might to inherit his Quirk "One For All" (which gives him the ability to stockpile his raw power and pass it on to others) and become his successor, as All Might was severely injured by his arch-nemesis All For One (whose Quirk allows him to steal other Quirks for his use and pass them over to others at his will). Izuku begins attending the U.A. High School for heroes alongside Bakugo. Over the course of the school year, Izuku and his classmates work hard to improve themselves and encounter the League of Villains led by All For One's apprentice
Tomura Shigaraki The ''My Hero Academia'' manga and anime series features a vast world with an extensive cast of characters created by Kōhei Horikoshi. The series takes place in a fictional world where more than 80% of the global population possesses some for ...
, who desires to kill All Might and destroy society through the use of monsters with multiple powers known as "Nomu". Due to the information that the League of Villains possesses about the inner workings of U.A., the faculty begin to suspect there may be a traitor at the school. After participating in a sports festival, Izuku and his classmates
Shoto Todoroki , also known by the mononym , is a superhero and one of the main protagonists of the manga series ''My Hero Academia'', created by Kōhei Horikoshi. Being the only child who inherited both Endeavor and Rei's Quirks, Shoto was often separated from ...
and Tenya Ida confront the villain
Stain A stain is a discoloration that can be clearly distinguished from the surface, material, or medium it is found upon. They are caused by the chemical or physical interaction of two dissimilar materials. Accidental staining may make materials app ...
and defeat him, but his final message inspires many villains to action, many of which join the League of Villains, including the serial killer Dabi. After the League of Villains kidnaps Bakugo, All Might and other Heroes manage to track down the League of Villains hideout, after which All For One reveals himself. Izuku and his friends manage to rescue Bakugo, and All Might faces off against All For One, which ends with All For One defeated and imprisoned, and All Might, having exhausted the last of One For All's power in himself, forced to retire. The League of Villains escapes but loses significant backing and access to the Nomu. After passing the exam to obtain a Provisional Hero License, Izuku begins working as an intern with All Might's former sidekick,
Sir Nighteye The ''My Hero Academia'' manga and anime series features a vast world with an extensive cast of characters created by Kōhei Horikoshi. The series takes place in a fictional world where more than 80% of the global population possesses some f ...
, whose Quirk gives him the power to predict the future. Sir Nighteye believes that Izuku is not worthy of inheriting One For All, and who is attempting to convince him to transfer the power to his protege. Under his direction Izuku, several of his classmates, and Nighteye's protege manage to defeat the Shie Hassaikai, a
yakuza , also known as , are members of transnational organized crime syndicates originating in Japan. The Japanese police and media, by request of the police, call them , while the ''yakuza'' call themselves . The English equivalent for the term ...
group, and their leader
Overhaul Overhaul may refer to: *The process of overhauling, see ** Maintenance, repair, and overhaul **Refueling and overhaul (eg. nuclear-powered ships) **Time between overhaul * Overhaul (firefighting), the process of searching for hidden fire extensio ...
and rescue a girl named
Eri Eri may refer to: People * Eri (biblical figure) * Eri (given name), a Japanese feminine given name, including lists of people and fictional characters * Eri (king), the progenitor of the Umu-Eri and Umu-Nri-Igbo ancient Nigerian city-states * ...
whose Quirk was being used to create a weapon that erases people's Quirks. However, Sir Nighteye was mortally wounded in the conflict and dies, having been convinced of Izuku's worthiness to succeed All Might. Izuku later continues his internship under the hero Endeavor, who assumed All Might's position as Japan's top hero following his retirement. Izuku later awakens a Quirk that belonged to one of All Might's predecessors, discovering that he can eventually obtain all the Quirks of the previous users of One For All as well. Meanwhile, the Heroes manage to capture a member of the League of Villains, Kurogiri. Examination reveals him to be a Nomu created from the corpse of a childhood friend of one of the teachers at UA. Meanwhile, the League of Villains grows stronger after Shigaraki gathers more followers and defeats another villain group, the Meta Liberation Army led by
Re-Destro The ''My Hero Academia'' manga and anime series features a vast world with an extensive cast of characters created by Kōhei Horikoshi. The series takes place in a fictional world where more than 80% of the global population possesses some for ...
, leading to both organizations merging into the Paranormal Liberation Front under his leadership. To counter this new threat, the Pro and Training Heroes join together in a massive operation to arrest them, but despite severe casualties and destruction, they fail to capture most of the League, including Shigaraki, who inherits All For One's Quirk and is possessed by him. Meanwhile Dabi reveals himself as Endeavor's son Toya as well as the abuse that led him to villainy, shattering the public's trust in the #1 hero. In the following days, the Paranormal Liberation Front gains momentum by releasing thousands of imprisoned Villains, including the original All For One, which alongside Dabi's revelation cause Japan to descend into chaos and anarchy. Izuku, knowing that he is Shigaraki and All For One's primary target, decides that it's too dangerous for his friends and family to have him around and flees from U.A., leaving behind some letters to the others revealing the truth of his power. Over the next month, Izuku joins forces with the top 3 Heroes and begins relentlessly hunting for All For One's location, to the detriment of his own health. After almost being defeated by an assassin sent by All For One, he is confronted by his classmates, who convince him to return to U.A., which has been turned into a refugee camp for the students' families and other civilians who fled from the Villains. With Shigaraki's body augmentations and assimilation by All for One nearly complete, America's #1 Pro Hero, Star and Stripe, arrives to fight him by All Might's request. However, Shigaraki manages to kill her and attempts to steal her quirk, which backfires and severely damages his body before destroying itself, giving the Heroes some time to devise a plan. One of Izuku's classmates is revealed to be the traitor, having received a quirk from All For One to hide his quirkless nature at a young age, and being forced to serve All For One with threats to him and his family. The Heroes decide to use his connection to All For One to lure him out and the heroes begin their final battle against the League of Villains, managing to separate Shigaraki from his subordinates to give Izuku (who fully awakened the power of One For All and his predecessors) the chance to fight him in a duel. However, Toga manages to separate Izuku from his intended location, causing him to arrive later than intended. Bakugo is fatally wounded fighting Shigaraki, though Edgeshot plans to sacrifice himself in order to save him. Spinner also manages to free and awaken Kurogiri and use his warp Quirk to help the villains gain the upper hand. Later, the original All For One defeats the heroes assigned to fight him and he begins heading towards Shigaraki and Izuku. Dabi starts to self destruct while facing Endeavor, but the Todoroki family later arrives and uses their Frost Quirks to cool him down and prevent his death.


Production


Development

Horikoshi stated that after his previous series '' Barrage'' was canceled after just two volumes, he was sad and out of ideas. In order to get more ideas, he revisited a
one-shot One shot may refer to: Film and television * One-shot film, a feature film shot in one long take with no edits, or manufactured to look like so * ''One Shot'' (2005 film), a Sri Lankan action film directed by Ranjan Ramanayake * ''One Shot'' (2 ...
he previously published in ''
Akamaru Jump Akamaru may refer to: *Akamaru (Naruto), Kiba Inuzuka's dog in the ''Naruto'' series *Akamaru Island, an island in the Gambier Islands *''Akamaru Jump'', a special edition of ''Shōnen Jump'' published thrice a year {{disambig ...
'', titled . This would end up being the basis for the series. Horikoshi was also a big fan of American films and comics, like ''
Spider-Man Spider-Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appeared in the anthology comic book '' Amazing Fantasy'' #15 (August 1962) in the ...
'' directed by
Sam Raimi Samuel M. Raimi ( ; born October 23, 1959) is an American filmmaker. He is best known for directing the Spider-Man (2002 film series), ''Spider-Man'' trilogy (2002–2007) and the ''Evil Dead'' franchise (1981–present). He also directed the 1 ...
, ''
Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop-culture Cultural impact of S ...
'', and ''
X-Men The X-Men are a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, first appearing in Uncanny X-Men, ''The X-Men'' #1 by artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby and writer/editor Stan Lee in 1963. Although initially cancelled in ...
'', which he used for inspiration. Horikoshi cites
Masashi Kishimoto is a Japanese manga artist. His manga series, ''Naruto'', which was in serialization from 1999 to 2014, has sold over 250 million copies worldwide in 46 countries as of May 2019. The series has been adapted into two anime and multiple films, vi ...
's ''
Naruto ''Naruto'' is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Masashi Kishimoto. It tells the story of Naruto Uzumaki, a young ninja who seeks recognition from his peers and dreams of becoming the Hokage, the leader of his village. T ...
'' as being the main influence for his art, specifically stating it gave him a love for drawing hands. Horikoshi has also cited ''
Dragon Ball is a Japanese media franchise created by Akira Toriyama in 1984. The Dragon Ball (manga), initial manga, written and illustrated by Toriyama, was serialized in ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' from 1984 to 1995, with the 519 individual chapters colle ...
'', ''
Ultraman ''Ultraman'', also known as the , is the collective name for all media produced by Tsuburaya Productions featuring Ultraman, his many brethren, and the myriad monsters. Debuting with ''Ultra Q'' and then ''Ultraman'' in 1966, the series is one ...
'', and ''
Kamen Rider The , also known as ''Masked Rider Series'' (until Decade), is a Japanese superhero media franchise consisting of tokusatsu television programs, films, manga, and anime, created by manga artist Shotaro Ishinomori. ''Kamen Rider'' media generall ...
'' as sources of inspiration. Hitoshi Koike, the editor of ''My Hero Academia'', said that Horikoshi already has a general story in mind for the manga. However, he also noted there were many rejected story ideas, and that Horikoshi dismissed some ideas himself. Koike also stated that Horikoshi liked to use his inspirations. Koike also noted ''My Hero Academia''s first three chapters took longer to complete than many other new serialized works. Koike and Horikoshi worked on concepts about the characters' designs while finishing the storyboards; Koike felt excited about the characters' designs despite not knowing their role in the plot. Kengo Monji, the second editor of the manga, said Horikoshi had a difficult time writing chapters at first. Monji felt that mixing the flair of Japan's ''shōnen'' manga with "heroes", a concept that he felt was understandable to a wide audience. Monji also complimented Horikoshi's artwork, noting its cartoon-style.


Conclusion

Horikoshi originally stated that ''My Hero Academia'' would not be as long as ''
One Piece ''One Piece'' (stylized in all caps) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda. It has been serialized in Shueisha's ''shōnen'' manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' since July 1997, with its individual chapte ...
'' since he felt he did not have enough stamina; instead preferring to keep it concise in comparison to other ''shōnen'' manga series. In April 2021, Horikoshi stated that the series had continued for longer than expected, but that it is still leading toward the ending that he had decided upon before the series began. In December 2021, Horikoshi stated during the interview at Jump Festa '22 that "if things go smoothly, the manga will meet its goal to end in one year. If it doesn't go smoothly, I think zuku's voice actorYamashita will be reading out the exact same letter from me at next year's Jump Festa". He also teased that
Katsuki Bakugo , also known by his nickname and his hero name , is a superhero and one of the main protagonists of the manga series ''My Hero Academia'', created by Kōhei Horikoshi. His Quirk is , which allows him to make explosions from his hands by detonati ...
would soon get a "big scene". Horikoshi wrote in the 34th volume of the manga that "I feel like I can finally see the goal in sight. It's a rather strange feeling getting to this point. In the past, I would just be drawing without a single care or the future but now I wonder just how many more times can I draw these characters? Change is scary as you grow older. Well, I really shouldn't dwell on that! Until next volume then!". In October 2022, Horikoshi rescinded the statement he made during Jump Festa '22, opting to take longer to complete the manga's final arc than initially expected.


Anime adaptation

''My Hero Academia'' producer Wakana Okamura, who previously worked with
Bones A bone is a rigid organ that constitutes part of the skeleton in most vertebrate animals. Bones protect the various other organs of the body, produce red and white blood cells, store minerals, provide structure and support for the body, an ...
on ''
Blood Blockade Battlefront is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yasuhiro Nightow. It revolves around a young photographer named Leonardo Watch, who obtains 'the All Seeing Eyes of the Gods' at the cost of his sister's eyesight. After the incident, ...
'', stated in an interview that he chose to work with Bones on adapting the series because Okamura felt they would make it a "high-quality production" with a "wide reach othinternationally and domestically". Okamura also stated the production staff, especially the character designer
Yoshihiko Umakoshi is a Japanese animator and character designer. In 1994, he was put in charge of character designs for the first time with ''Marmalade Boy''. Since then, he has done character designs for many series, such as '' HeartCatch PreCure!'', ''Ojamajo Do ...
, were fans of the manga. Director
Kenji Nagasaki is a Japanese anime director employed by Madhouse. He made his full directorial debut in 2011 with ''No. 6''. Starting in 2016, he directed the anime adaptation of ''My Hero Academia'', which has received praise from critics. Biography Kenji Na ...
said Bones wanted to "make
he series He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...
with a strong core and backbones".
Yōsuke Kuroda is a Japanese anime screenwriter from Mie Prefecture, Japan. He has his own studio enterprise, Studio Orphee. Kuroda is noted for his work on authoring the scenario, screenplay and story composition of the anime series ''Excel Saga'', ''Please ...
said he was a fan of the series prior to its anime adaptation, so he quickly accepted when offered to do the
screenwriting Screenwriting or scriptwriting is the art and craft of writing scripts for mass media such as feature films, television productions or video games. It is often a freelance profession. Screenwriters are responsible for researching the story, devel ...
.


Themes and analysis

Horikoshi has stated that the main theme he focuses on is "what makes a hero". He also stated that he likes stories with bad endings, as well as horror stories. However, he finds these difficult to draw since his mood when he draws is the same in the story. In order to combat this, he puts in more silly-looking characters like Fat Gum, in order to keep the mood up. The series explores themes such as the nature of heroism, the importance of perseverance and determination, and the power of friendship and teamwork. Horikoshi said that he was inspired by the idea of creating a world where anyone, regardless of their background or abilities, could become a hero. He wanted to show that even those without powers could still make a difference and achieve their dreams through hard work and determination. That vision results in heroes in the series not being egotistical, but passionate and dedicated individuals with clear goals to work towards. The series also explores on Izuku, who idolized heroes from a young age, and his enthusiasm. In a world where superheroes are not just regulated, but commercialized brands, he still sees something inspiring in their actions. ''My Hero Academia'' has been noted for its positive view of heroes. Cramer wrote that "in the modern world, we often challenge heroic ideals, and the motivations of the people who pursue them", noting how in American media the optimism of the 
Silver Age of Comic Books The Silver Age of Comic Books was a period of artistic advancement and widespread commercial success in mainstream American comic books, predominantly those featuring the superhero archetype. Following the Golden Age of Comic Books and an int ...
 lead to post-''
Watchmen ''Watchmen'' is an American comic book Limited series (comics), maxiseries by the British creative team of writer Alan Moore, artist Dave Gibbons and colorist John Higgins (comics), John Higgins. It was published monthly by DC Comics in 1986 a ...
'' ambiguity. He also noted that, even in Japan, unquestioned heroism is often challenged in modern revisions of older series, such as in ''
Yatterman is a Japanese anime television series broadcast from January 1, 1977 to January 27, 1979, comprising 108 episodes. It is the second and longest show in the ''Time Bokan'' series by Tatsunoko Productions. The series succeeded ''Time Bokan'' a ...
'' and ''
Gatchaman is a Japanese animated franchise about a five-member superhero ninja team created by Tatsuo Yoshida and produced by Tatsunoko Productions. The original anime series, which debuted in 1972, was eponymously entitled ''Kagaku Ninja-tai Gatchaman ...
''.


Publication


Main series

''My Hero Academia'' is written and illustrated by
Kōhei Horikoshi is a Japanese manga artist known for creating the manga series '' Ōmagadoki Dōbutsuen'', '' Barrage'' and ''My Hero Academia'', all of which have been serialized in Shueisha's ''shōnen'' manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Jump''. Horikoshi is ...
. The series began its serialization in
Shueisha (lit. "Gathering of Intellect Publishing Co., Ltd.") is a Japanese company headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. The company was established in 1925 as the entertainment-related publishing division of Japanese publisher Shogakukan. The foll ...
's ''shōnen'' manga magazine ''
Weekly Shōnen Jump is a weekly ''shōnen'' manga anthology published in Japan by Shueisha under the ''Jump'' line of magazines. The manga series within the magazine consist of many action scenes and a fair amount of comedy. The chapters of the series that run ...
'' on July 7, 2014. Shueisha has collected its chapters into individual ''
tankōbon is the Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or cultur ...
'' volumes. The first volume was released on November 4, 2014. As of June 2, 2023, thirty-eight volumes have been released. The manga entered its final act in chapter 306, which was released on March 21, 2021. The series is licensed for English-language release in North America by
Viz Media VIZ Media LLC is an American manga publisher, anime distributor and entertainment company headquartered in San Francisco, California. It was founded in 1986 as VIZ LLC. In 2005, VIZ LLC and ShoPro Entertainment merged to form the current VIZ M ...
, who published the first volume on August 4, 2015. As the series is published in Japan, it is also released simultaneously in English digitally by Viz Media's ''
Weekly Shonen Jump Weekly, The Weekly, or variations, may refer to: News media * ''Weekly'' (news magazine), an English-language national news magazine published in Mauritius *Weekly newspaper, any newspaper published on a weekly schedule *Alternative newspaper, als ...
'' and later its website. Shueisha began to simulpublish the series in English on the website and app ''
Manga Plus ''Manga Plus'' (stylized as ''MANGA Plus'') is an online manga platform and smartphone app owned by Shueisha that was launched on January 28, 2019. It is available worldwide except in Japan, China, and South Korea which already have their own se ...
'' in January 2019.


Spin-offs

A
spin-off Spin-off may refer to: *Spin-off (media), a media work derived from an existing work *Corporate spin-off, a type of corporate action that forms a new company or entity * Government spin-off, civilian goods which are the result of military or gove ...
series entitled '' My Hero Academia: Smash!!'' by Hirofumi Neda started in the ''
Shōnen Jump+ is a Japanese online magazine for manga created by Shueisha, spin-off from its ''Jump'' line of magazines. Launched on September 22, 2014, the magazine operates as a free mobile app and website. The magazine serializes original titles and titles ...
'' digital app on November 9, 2015, and finished on November 6, 2017. Its chapters were collected in five ''tankōbon'' volumes. In November 2018, during their panel at
Anime NYC Anime NYC is an annual three-day anime convention held during November at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City. Programming The convention typically offers arcade games, an artist alley, concerts, manga library (Carolina Manga ...
, Viz Media announced that they have licensed the manga. The first volume was released in North America on August 6, 2019. A second spin-off series, '' My Hero Academia: Vigilantes'', began being published biweekly on the ''Shōnen Jump+'' website and app in 2017. The series began its serialization on August 20, 2016, and ended on May 28, 2022. The series is licensed for the English-language release in North America by Viz Media. The first volume was released in North America on July 3, 2018. A third spin-off series, '' My Hero Academia: Team-Up Missions'' by Yōkō Akiyama, began serialization in ''
Saikyō Jump is a Japanese monthly Shōnen manga, ''shōnen'' manga magazine published by Shueisha. The magazine was started on December 3, 2010 with three completely original titles and seven spin-off (media), spin-off manga from series in ''Weekly Shōnen Ju ...
'' on August 2, 2019, with a prologue chapter debuting in ''Jump GIGA'' on July 25, 2019. The series is also licensed for the English-language release in North America by Viz Media. The first volume was released in North America on March 2, 2021. The first two of the series' films have been adapted into one-volume manga series. Both were published by Homesha. A 15-page
one-shot One shot may refer to: Film and television * One-shot film, a feature film shot in one long take with no edits, or manufactured to look like so * ''One Shot'' (2005 film), a Sri Lankan action film directed by Ranjan Ramanayake * ''One Shot'' (2 ...
spin-off manga, illustrated by Yōkō Akiyama, centered on
Melissa Melissa is a female given name. The name comes from the Greek word μέλισσα (''mélissa''), "bee", which in turn comes from μέλι (''meli''), "honey". In Hittite, ''melit'' signifies "honey". ''Melissa'' also refers to the plant ''Me ...
, titled , was published in the 35th issue of Shueisha's ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' on July 30, 2018. A one-shot spin-off manga that serves as a
prequel A prequel is a literary, dramatic or cinematic work whose story precedes that of a previous work, by focusing on events that occur before the original narrative. A prequel is a work that forms part of a backstory to the preceding work. The term " ...
to the first film, written and illustrated by Kōhei Horikoshi, centered on
All Might The ''My Hero Academia'' manga and anime series features a vast world with an extensive cast of characters created by Kōhei Horikoshi. The series takes place in a fictional world where more than 80% of the global population possesses some for ...
's past and the featured character
Nana Shimura The ''My Hero Academia'' manga and anime series features a vast world with an extensive cast of characters created by Kōhei Horikoshi. The series takes place in a fictional world where more than 80% of the global population possesses some for ...
, titled , was given to the first one million attendees on August 3, 2018. A ten-page manga was included in the book. It was later published in English by Viz Media in September 2018. , a two-chapter spin-off manga illustrated by Akiyama, was published in Shueisha's ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' on December 16 and 23, 2019. It centered on
Izuku Midoriya , also known by his hero name , is a superhero and the main protagonist of the manga series ''My Hero Academia'', created by Kōhei Horikoshi. In the series, he is an ambitious first-year high schooler and the 9th (and current) holder of "One ...
and
Katsuki Bakugo , also known by his nickname and his hero name , is a superhero and one of the main protagonists of the manga series ''My Hero Academia'', created by Kōhei Horikoshi. His Quirk is , which allows him to make explosions from his hands by detonati ...
during their second year in middle school. A one-shot spin-off manga that serves as a prequel to the second film, written and illustrated by Horikoshi, centered on
Nine 9 is a number, numeral, and glyph. 9 or nine may also refer to: Dates * AD 9, the ninth year of the AD era * 9 BC, the ninth year before the AD era * 9, numerical symbol for the month of September Places * Nine, Portugal, a parish in the ...
, titled , was also given to the first million attendees on December 20, 2019. A nine-page manga was included in the book. The manga chapter was later published in English by Viz Media in March 2020. A 17-page special one-shot chapter written and illustrated by Akiyama, titled , was published in ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' on August 2, 2021. It centered on Endeavor and his trainees Izuku, Katsuki, and Shoto during their Hero Work-Studies at the Endeavor Agency. An 80-page manga booklet, titled , includes a nine-page one-shot manga that serves as a prequel to the third film, centered on Endeavor Agency trainees and the featured character
Hawks Hawks are birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. They are widely distributed and are found on all continents except Antarctica. * The subfamily Accipitrinae includes goshawks, sparrowhawks, sharp-shinned hawks and others. This subfamily a ...
, titled was given to the ''My Hero Academia: World Heroes' Mission'' attendees who viewed the film in Japan on August 6, 2021. The manga volume had a limited print run of one million copies. In October 2021, a 76-page booklet featuring a specialty manga was also given to the attendees who saw it on the opening weekend in the United States.


Related media


Anime

On October 29, 2015, the series' official website announced that the manga would receive an
anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...
television series adaptation produced by
Bones A bone is a rigid organ that constitutes part of the skeleton in most vertebrate animals. Bones protect the various other organs of the body, produce red and white blood cells, store minerals, provide structure and support for the body, an ...
. The anime is directed by
Kenji Nagasaki is a Japanese anime director employed by Madhouse. He made his full directorial debut in 2011 with ''No. 6''. Starting in 2016, he directed the anime adaptation of ''My Hero Academia'', which has received praise from critics. Biography Kenji Na ...
, written by
Yōsuke Kuroda is a Japanese anime screenwriter from Mie Prefecture, Japan. He has his own studio enterprise, Studio Orphee. Kuroda is noted for his work on authoring the scenario, screenplay and story composition of the anime series ''Excel Saga'', ''Please ...
, and features character designs by
Yoshihiko Umakoshi is a Japanese animator and character designer. In 1994, he was put in charge of character designs for the first time with ''Marmalade Boy''. Since then, he has done character designs for many series, such as '' HeartCatch PreCure!'', ''Ojamajo Do ...
. The anime stars
Marina Inoue is a Japanese voice actress and singer from Tokyo, Japan. She is affiliated with Aoni Production. She was signed into Aniplex until 2007. She was chosen out of 2,000 people from the "Gonna be a star" auditions (hosted by Sony Music Entertainment ...
as Momo Yaoyorozu,
Yoshimasa Hosoya is a Japanese voice actor and narrator. Biography After attending Tokyo Announce Gakuin Performing Arts College and Mausu Promotion Actor Training Center, he joined Mausu Promotion. He is currently a freelancer. Among his many roles, he voiced ...
as Fumikage Tokoyami,
Daiki Yamashita is a Japanese voice actor affiliated with Arts Vision. He is best known for voicing the character Izuku Midoriya in the popular shonen anime ''My Hero Academia''. He won the ''Best Male Newcomer'' award at the 8th Seiyu Awards. Filmography Ani ...
as Izuku Midoriya,
Kenta Miyake is a Japanese voice actor and narrator who is affiliated with 81 Produce. Career Miyake was born in Okinawa Prefecture. As a teenager, he dreamed of becoming a voice actor in hopes of meeting an actress that he admired and wanted to co-star wit ...
as All Might,
Nobuhiko Okamoto is a Japanese Voice acting in Japan, voice actor and singer affiliated with Raccoon Dog. He won the Best New Actor Award at the 3rd Seiyu Awards and Best Supporting Actor Award at the 5th Seiyu Awards. Voice acting career In an interview held ...
as Katsuki Bakugō,
Ayane Sakura is a Japanese voice actress. She is affiliated with Aoni Production. Her roles included Natsumi Koshigaya in ''Non Non Biyori'', Secre Swallowtail in '' Black Clover'', Ochaco Uraraka in ''My Hero Academia'', Tsubaki Sawabe in ''Your Lie in April ...
as Ochako Uraraka,
Kaito Ishikawa is a Japanese voice actor. He is affiliated with Stay Luck. He voiced Nero in ''Devil May Cry'', Genos in ''One Punch Man'', Tenya Iida in ''My Hero Academia'' and Tobio Kageyama in ''Haikyu!!''. Biography Ishikawa performed in a production o ...
as Tenya Iida,
Aoi Yūki , better known by her stage name , is a Japanese actress, voice actress and singer represented by Aoni Production. She voiced Komachi Hikigaya in '' My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong, As I Expected'', Rita Rossweisse in ''Honkai Impact 3rd'', Tany ...
as Tsuyu Asui, and
Ryō Hirohashi is a Japanese voice actress affiliated with Aoni Production. She mainly voices young girls and young boys. She is known for voicing Miles "Tails" Prower in the ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' series. Biography Hirohashi was born in Niigata Prefecture, he ...
as Minoru Mineta. The series aired from April 3 to June 26, 2016, on TBS,
MBS MBS may refer for: People * Mohammed bin Salman (born 1985), crown prince and prime minister of Saudi Arabia * Mohan Bikram Singh (born 1935), Nepalese politician Places * MBS International Airport (IATA code: MBS), Freeland, Michigan, US * Mari ...
and other
Japan News Network The , or JNN, is a Japanese commercial television network run by TBS Television. The network's responsibility includes the syndication of national television news bulletins to its regional affiliates, and news exchange between the stations. Its m ...
stations. A second season was announced in the ''
Weekly Shōnen Jump is a weekly ''shōnen'' manga anthology published in Japan by Shueisha under the ''Jump'' line of magazines. The manga series within the magazine consist of many action scenes and a fair amount of comedy. The chapters of the series that run ...
'' magazine's 30th issue of 2016. The second season aired from April 1 to September 30, 2017, on
NTV NTV may refer to: Television * NTV (Bangladesh), a Bengali-language satellite television channel in Bangladesh * NTV (India), Telugu regional channel * NTV (Kenya) * NTV (Mongolia), a television channel based in Mongolia * NTV (Newport Television) ...
and ytv. The staff and cast from the first season reprised their roles. A third season was announced in the 44th issue of ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' magazine of 2017. The third season aired from April 7 to September 29, 2018. A fourth season was announced in the final episode of season three, which released on September 29, 2018. On December 19, 2018, the series' official website confirmed a release date of October 12, 2019, along with a key visual.
Funimation Crunchyroll, LLC, previously known as Funimation from 1994 to 2022, is an American entertainment company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony as a joint venture between Sony Pictures and Sony Music Entertainment Japan's Aniplex that specializes ...
premiered the first episode of the fourth season at
Anime Expo Anime Expo, abbreviated AX, is an American anime convention held in Los Angeles, California and organized by the non-profit Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation (SPJA). The convention is traditionally held annually on the first we ...
on July 6, 2019, with the English dub. Kenji Nagasaki served as chief director of the fourth season, with
Masahiro Mukai is a Japanese anime director. In 2004, he joined Sunrise and worked on ''Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny''. After leaving Sunrise, he was put in charge of directing '' Hyperdimension Neptunia: The Animation'' in 2013 and ''Trickster'' in 2017. St ...
as director. A fifth season was announced at the end of the final episode of season four. The fifth season aired from March 27 to September 25, 2021. A sixth season was announced at the end of the fifth season's final episode. On July 24, 2022, the Hero Fes event confirmed a release date of October 1, 2022, with a new visual was revealed. The season ran for two consecutive cours and adapt the manga's "Paranormal Liberation War" and "Dark Hero" story arcs. A seventh season was announced at the end of the sixth season's final episode.


OVAs and ONAs

An
original video animation , abbreviated as OVA and sometimes as OAV (original animation video), are Japanese animated films and series made specially for release in home video formats without prior showings on television or in theaters, though the first part of an OVA s ...
(OVA) based on the anime series was shown at the Jump Festa '16 event on November 27, 2016. Titled "Save! Rescue Training!", it was bundled with the limited edition of the 13th volume of the manga, which released on April 4, 2017. It was later released on DVD releases alongside ''
Black Clover is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yūki Tabata. It has been serialized in Shueisha's ''shōnen'' manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' since February 2015, with its chapters collected in 33 ''tankōbon'' volumes ...
'' and '' Food Wars!: Shokugeki no Soma'' bundled with the future volumes of their respective manga, as it was announced on Jump Special Anime Festa event. A second OVA, titled "Training of the Dead", bundled with a limited edition of the 14th volume of the manga, released on June 2, 2017. It focuses on a joint practice session between Izuku's class and the other hero department students at U.A. Academy. A third OVA, "All Might: Rising", was released on February 13, 2019. It was bundled with the first film's blu-ray set, and adapted its prequel manga. It was two minutes long. A two-part
original net animation An original net animation (ONA), known in Japan as , is an anime that is directly released onto the Internet. ONAs may also have been aired on television if they were first directly released on the Internet. The name mirrors original video animati ...
(ONA) titled "Make It! Do-or-Die Survival Training", were released on August 16, 2020, with the returning staff and cast from season 4. Funimation streamed them simultaneously with the Japanese release. Another OVA was included with the "Plus Ultra" edition of '' My Hero Academia: World Heroes' Mission'' in Japan. Two new OVA episodes, titled "HLB " and "Laugh! As If You Are in Hell", were announced on May 8 and June 3, 2022, respectively. The episodes were given screenings in Japan from June 16–19, 2022. Internationally, Crunchyroll premiered the episodes at Anime Expo on July 1, 2022. A worldwide streaming release premiered on August 1, 2022.


International release

In March 2016, Funimation announced they had licensed the international rights for streaming services, the home and broadcast release, and the merchandise rights.
Universal Pictures UK United International Pictures (UIP) is a joint venture of Paramount Pictures and Universal Pictures that distributes their films outside the United States and Canada. UIP also had international distribution rights to certain Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer a ...
distributed the first season in the United Kingdom and Ireland on behalf of Funimation, with
Sony Pictures UK Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (abbreviated as SPHE) is the home video distribution division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. Background SPHE is responsible for the distribution of the Sony Pictures lib ...
distributing the second season for Funimation, and
Manga Entertainment Manga Entertainment was a producer, licensee, and distributor of anime in the United States and the United Kingdom. Originally founded in the UK in 1987, the UK branch became Funimation UK and Ireland in 2021, also currently known as Crunchyro ...
distributing subsequent seasons for Funimation. In Australia and New Zealand,
Universal Universal is the adjective for universe. Universal may also refer to: Companies * NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment company ** Universal Animation Studios, an American Animation studio, and a subsidiary of NBCUniversal ** Universal TV, a t ...
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (abbreviated as SPHE) is the home video distribution division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. Background SPHE is responsible for the distribution of the Sony Pictures lib ...
distributed the first two seasons, on behalf of Funimation, with
Madman Anime Crunchyroll Pty. Ltd., trading as Madman Anime, is an Australian distribution company focused on anime and Japanese media. The company handles licensing and distribution of anime in Australia and New Zealand. Originally part of independent film ...
distributing season 3 onwards, in partnership with Funimation. On April 19, 2018, Funimation announced that the series would air on
Adult Swim Adult Swim (AS; stylized as
dult swim Dult is a village in Batala in Gurdaspur district of Punjab State, India. It is located from sub district headquarter, from district headquarter and from Sri Hargobindpur. The village is administrated by Sarpanch an elected representati ...
and often abbreviated as s is an American adult-oriented night-time cable television Television channel, channel that shares channel space with the basic cable network Cartoon Network and is programme ...
's
Toonami Toonami ( ) is an American late night television programming block that primarily broadcasts Japanese animation and occasionally American action animation. It was created by Sean Akins and Jason DeMarco and produced by Williams Street, a divis ...
block starting on May 5, 2018. Medialink licensed the series in Southeast Asia. They aired it simultaneously on
Animax Asia Animax is the pay television channel in Asia owned by KC Global Media Asia which broadcasts Japanese language anime and Simulcast anime, anime programming through English-language feeds in Southeast Asia (formerly including Brunei), South Asia (ex ...
.


Music

The music of the series is composed by Yuki Hayashi. The series uses twenty-two different songs: eleven opening themes and eleven ending themes. The opening theme is "The Day", performed by
Porno Graffitti , also known as , are a Japanese rock band from Onomichi (formerly Innoshima), Hiroshima Prefecture. The band got their name from the album ''Pornograffitti'' by the band Extreme. They currently record under the SME Records label and their ag ...
, while the ending theme is "Heroes", performed by
Brian the Sun Brian the Sun is a Japanese rock band from Osaka. History The band was formed in 2007 in Osaka by Ryota Mori and Haruki Hakuyama. The name was inspired by the Arctic Monkeys song Brianstorm. The band's songs have been used for numerous Ani ...
, were used for the 13 episodes in the first season. For the second season, the first opening theme is performed by
Kenshi Yonezu is a Japanese musician, singer-songwriter, record producer and illustrator who began releasing Vocaloid music under the stage name in 2009. In 2012, he debuted under his real name, releasing music with his own voice. He has sold at least 4.2 mi ...
and the first ending theme is performed by
Little Glee Monster Little Glee Monster (リトル グリー モンスター, Ritoru Gurī Monsutā) is a Japanese girl vocal group, formed in 2013. The group currently consists of Asahi Kobayashi, Mayu Yoshida, Karen Koga, Mika Fujihira, Yumi Nagai, and Kamala Miyu ...
for the first 13 episodes; from episode 14 onwards, the opening theme is performed by
amazarashi Amazarashi (stylized as amazarashi) is a Japanese rock band from Aomori, currently signed to Sony Music Japan. Formed in 2007, its members are Hiromu Akita (lead vocals, guitar, songwriter) and Manami Toyokawa (keyboard). They have released six si ...
and the ending theme is performed by
LiSA Lisa or LISA may refer to: People People with the mononym * Lisa Lisa (born 1967), American actress and lead singer of the Cult Jam * Lisa (Japanese musician, born 1974), stylized "LISA", Japanese singer and producer * Lisa Komine (born 1978), J ...
. For the first 13 episodes of the third season, the opening theme is "Odd Future" by
Uverworld Uverworld (stylized as UVERworld) is a Japanese Rock music, rock band consisting of six members and originating from Kusatsu, Shiga. They have released eleven studio albums and over thirty singles and have sold over three million records worldwide ...
, while the ending theme is by
miwa Miwa (みわ, ミワ) is a feminine Japanese given name which can also be used as a surname. Possible writings Miwa can be written using different kanji characters and can mean: *三和 "three, harmony" *三輪 "three, wheel/ring" *美和 "beauty ...
. For the rest of the season, the opening theme is "Make My Story" by Lenny Code Fiction and the ending theme is by
Masaki Suda , known professionally as , is a Japanese actor and singer. He won the Japan Academy Film Prize for Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role. His debut song is "Mita Koto mo Nai Keshiki". Personal life Suda is a close junior to S ...
. For the first 14 episodes of the fourth season, the opening theme is by Blue Encount, while the ending theme is by Sayuri. For the rest of the season, the opening theme is by Kana-Boon and the ending theme is "Shout Baby" by Ryokuōshoku Shakai.
Chrissy Costanza Christina Nicola Costanza (born August 23, 1995) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. She is best known as the lead vocalist and primary songwriter of the pop rock band Against The Current. Early life Costanza was born on August ...
performs the insert songs "Each Goal" in episode 19 and "Hero too" in episode 23. For the first 13 episodes of the fifth season, the opening theme is "No.1" by Dish, while the ending theme is by the Peggies. From episode 14 onwards, the opening theme is "Merry-Go-Round" by
Man with a Mission Man with a Mission, stylized as MAN WITH A MISSION or sometimes as MWAM, is a Japanese rock band which was formed in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan, in 2010. The band currently consists of five band members, with stage names of Tokyo Tanaka (vocals, leade ...
, while the ending theme is by Soshi Sakiyama. For the first 13 episodes of the sixth season, the opening theme is by
Super Beaver Super Beaver (stylized as SUPER BEAVER) is a Japanese rock band formed in 2005. They are best known for their song , which was used as an ending theme (the 9th ending theme for the series) for the fifth season of Naruto Shippuden, their song "Ra ...
, while the ending theme is "Sketch" by Kiro Akiyama. From episode 14 onwards, the opening theme is by
Eve Eve (; ; ar, حَوَّاء, Ḥawwāʾ; el, Εὕα, Heúa; la, Eva, Heva; Syriac: romanized: ) is a figure in the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible. According to the origin story, "Creation myths are symbolic stories describing how the ...
, while the ending theme is by Six Lounge. The first season's
soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...
album was released on July 13, 2016, with 35 tracks, under the Toho Animation Records
label A label (as distinct from signage) is a piece of paper, plastic film, cloth, metal, or other material affixed to a container or product, on which is written or printed information or symbols about the product or item. Information printed dir ...
. The second season's two-disc soundtrack album was released on September 6, 2017, with 23 tracks each. The third season and theatrical film's two-disc soundtrack album were released on July 18, 2018, with 67 tracks overall. , which contains 32 tracks, released on August 21, 2019. The fourth season's soundtrack album was released on March 25, 2020, with 18 tracks. The fifth season's soundtrack album, which contains 19 tracks, was released in Japan by Toho Animation Records on September 26, 2021, and in the United States by
Milan Records Milan Records is a record label located in Los Angeles, California specializing in film scores and soundtrack albums. In addition, Milan boasts an extensive electronic catalog which features down-tempo, chillout, and eclectic electronic releases ...
on CD and
vinyl records A phonograph record (also known as a gramophone record, especially in British English), or simply a record, is an analog signal, analog sound Recording medium, storage medium in the form of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove ...
on January 26, 2022.
Anime Limited Anime Limited, also known as All the Anime is a British anime distribution company based in Glasgow, Scotland. It releases anime for British, Irish, French and other European audiences. The company was established in 2012 by Andrew Partridge, b ...
released the soundtrack digitally which contains a two-LP set in the United Kingdom and Ireland on June 17, 2022. The compilation album was released on January 26, 2022. The CD album contains 27 tracks. The two-disc compilation album was released on March 15, 2023, with 52 tracks. In November 2021, a concert event titled ''My Hero Academia Official Live Concert'' was held in
Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
.


Light novels

A
light novel A light novel (, Hepburn: ''raito noberu'') is a style of young adult novel primarily targeting high school and middle school students. The term "light novel" is a ''wasei-eigo'', or a Japanese term formed from words in the English languag ...
series, titled , written by Anri Yoshi, was released by Shueisha under its
Jump J-Books Jumping is a form of locomotion or movement in which an organism or non-living (e.g., robotic) mechanical system propels itself through the air along a ballistic trajectory. Jump or Jumping also may refer to: Places * Jump, Kentucky or Jump S ...
imprint. It centers on
Izuku Midoriya , also known by his hero name , is a superhero and the main protagonist of the manga series ''My Hero Academia'', created by Kōhei Horikoshi. In the series, he is an ambitious first-year high schooler and the 9th (and current) holder of "One ...
and his classmates of U.A. High in everyday school lives. The first volume was released on April 4, 2016. As of October 4, 2021, six volumes have been published. In North America, it has been licensed in English by
Viz Media VIZ Media LLC is an American manga publisher, anime distributor and entertainment company headquartered in San Francisco, California. It was founded in 1986 as VIZ LLC. In 2005, VIZ LLC and ShoPro Entertainment merged to form the current VIZ M ...
. Light novels based on the three anime films were also released on August 3, 2018, December 20, 2019, and August 6, 2021.


Theatrical films


Anime

An anime film was announced in December 2017 and features an original story set after the manga's "Final Exam" arc. Titled '' My Hero Academia: Two Heroes'', the film had its world premiere at
Anime Expo Anime Expo, abbreviated AX, is an American anime convention held in Los Angeles, California and organized by the non-profit Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation (SPJA). The convention is traditionally held annually on the first we ...
in Los Angeles on July 5, 2018, before a Japanese theatrical release on August 3, 2018, with the staff and cast from the anime series reprising their roles. The film has grossed over $33 million worldwide, and ended its theatrical run with $5.8 million to become the tenth-highest-grossing animated film in the United States and Canada at that time. On March 23, 2019, it was announced that a second animated film for the series was in production. On July 7, 2019, the official Twitter account for ''My Hero Academia'' revealed the title as '' My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising''; the film was released in Japan on December 20, 2019. The film takes place after the manga's "Meta Liberation Army" arc. It has elements to its story that were once going to be used by
Kōhei Horikoshi is a Japanese manga artist known for creating the manga series '' Ōmagadoki Dōbutsuen'', '' Barrage'' and ''My Hero Academia'', all of which have been serialized in Shueisha's ''shōnen'' manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Jump''. Horikoshi is ...
as a finale to the series. It was released in North America on February 26, 2020. The film has grossed over $29 million worldwide, and surpassed ''My Hero Academia: Two Heroes'' during its ninth weekend in the domestic gross. On November 29, 2020, it was announced that a third animated film for the series was in production. The staff and cast from the previous two films reprised their roles. In the first episode of the series' fifth season, the film was revealed to be titled '' My Hero Academia: World Heroes' Mission''. The film was released in Japan on August 6, 2021, and it began screening in the United States and Canada on October 29, 2021. The film has grossed over $47 million worldwide, and became the tenth highest-grossing domestic film of 2021 in Japan.


Live-action

In October 2018,
Legendary Entertainment Legendary Pictures Productions, LLC (doing business as Legendary Entertainment or simply Legendary) is an American film production and mass media company based in Burbank, California, founded by Thomas Tull in 2000. The company has collaborated ...
acquired the rights to produce a
live-action Live action (or live-action) is a form of cinematography or videography that uses photography instead of animation. Some works combine live-action with animation to create a live-action animated film. Live-action is used to define film, video ga ...
adaptation of the series. In August 2021, it was revealed to be directed by
Shinsuke Sato is a Japanese filmmaker, screenwriter and video game designer. He has directed several live-action film adaptations of manga and anime, including ''The Princess Blade'' (2001), ''Gantz'' (2011), ''I Am a Hero'' (2015), ''Bleach'' (2018), ''Inuya ...
, with Alex Garcia and Jay Ashenfelter overseeing the adaptation, and Ryosuke Yoritomi representing the manga publisher Shueisha. Toho is set to distribute the film in Japan. On December 12, 2022,
Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...
announced that they had acquired the rights to the film with
Joby Harold Joby Harold is an English screenwriter, producer and director who runs Safehouse Pictures with his producing partner, Tory Tunnell. The company was co-founded in 2005. Career Harold's latest projects are the upcoming films ''Space Mountain' ...
writing the screenplay.


Video games


Console games

A video game based on the anime, , was announced in November 2015. The game was developed by
Dimps is a Japanese video game developer based in Osaka, Japan, with an additional office in Tokyo. It is best known for developing games in the '' Sonic the Hedgehog'', ''Dragon Ball'' and ''Street Fighter'' franchises. The company was founded on Mar ...
and published by
Bandai Namco Entertainment is a Japanese multinational video game video game publisher, publisher headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo. Its international branches, Bandai Namco Entertainment America and Bandai Namco Entertainment Europe, are respectively headquartered in ...
for the
Nintendo 3DS The is a handheld game console produced by Nintendo. It was announced in March 2010 and unveiled at E3 2010 as the successor to the Nintendo DS. The system features backward compatibility with Nintendo DS video games. As an eighth-generatio ...
, where it released in Japan on May 19, 2016. ''My Hero Academia'' has also received three video games developed by Byking and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment. The first, titled , was released for
PlayStation 4 The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013 in ...
,
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,
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, and
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on October 26, 2018. The game has sold over 500,000 units worldwide by January 2019. A sequel, , was released on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One on March 12, 2020 in Japan and worldwide in the following day. The third, a free-to-play battle royale action game, titled , was announced in January 2022. It is set to be released in late 2023 on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Windows and Xbox One.


Mobile games

Two mobile games have been released for
iOS iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also includes ...
and
Android Android may refer to: Science and technology * Android (robot), a humanoid robot or synthetic organism designed to imitate a human * Android (operating system), Google's mobile operating system ** Bugdroid, a Google mascot sometimes referred to ...
. ''My Hero Academia: The Strongest Hero'' was released in North America and several other mostly English-speaking countries in late May 2021 and was released in February 2022.


Crossovers

Izuku Midoriya, All Might, Katsuki Bakugo, and Shoto Todoroki appeared as playable characters in the 2018
crossover Crossover may refer to: Entertainment Albums and songs * ''Cross Over'' (Dan Peek album) * ''Crossover'' (Dirty Rotten Imbeciles album), 1987 * ''Crossover'' (Intrigue album) * ''Crossover'' (Hitomi Shimatani album) * ''Crossover'' (Yoshino ...
fighting game A fighting game, also known as a versus fighting game, is a video game genre, genre of video game that involves combat between two or more players. Fighting game combat often features mechanics such as Blocking (martial arts), blocking, grappli ...
''
Jump Force ''Jump Force'' is a Japanese crossover fighting game developed by Spike Chunsoft and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment featuring characters from various manga series featured in Shueisha's ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' anthology in celebration o ...
''.''Jump Force'' playable characters: * * * * Izuku Midoriya, Katsuki Bakugo, Ochaco Uraraka, and All Might appeared as cosmetic outfits for players to purchase in ''
Fortnite ''Fortnite'' is an online video game developed by Epic Games and released in 2017. It is available in three distinct game mode versions that otherwise share the same general gameplay and game engine: ''Fortnite Battle Royale'', a free-to-p ...
''. Additionally, an in-game ability called "Deku's Smash" was introduced.


Stage plays

''My Hero Academia: The "Ultra" Stage'', a stage play adaptation, was first announced in 2018 and ran from April 12–21 and April 26–29, 2019. The play was directed by Tsuneyasu Motoyoshi, written by Hideyuki Nishimori, and choreographed by Umebō. Shunsuke Wada composed the music. The cast includes Shin Tamura as Izuku Midoriya, Ryōta Kobayashi as Katsuki Bakugo, Yume Takuchi as Ochako Uraraka,
Hiroki Ino is a Japanese actor associated with Stardust Promotion's Section 2. Ino debuted as an actor in 2009 and has notably appeared in the films ''Demolition Girl'' (2017) and ''Touken Ranbu'' (2019). He has also starred in several stage play adaptati ...
as Tenya Iida, and Ryō Kitamura as Shoto Todoroki. A second stage play adaptation, titled ''My Hero Academia: The "Ultra" Stage: A True Hero'', was scheduled to run from March 6–22 and March 27–April 5, 2020, with the cast and staff returning. However, due to the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
, ''My Hero Academia: The "Ultra" Stage: A True Hero''s original run was canceled and postponed to July 2020, where a complete version, titled ''My Hero Academia: The "Ultra" Stage: A True Hero Plus Stage Ver.'', ran instead. After one staff member contracted COVID-19, the production committee announced that ''My Hero Academia: The "Ultra" Stage: A True Hero'' would instead be live-streamed; however, the play was delayed again after another staff member contracted COVID-19. The stage play ran in 2021 from December 3–12 and December 24–26. A third stage play adaptation titled ''My Hero Academia The "Ultra" Stage: The Symbol of Peace'' was announced on December 26, 2021, and was scheduled to run from April 9–10, April 22–24, and April 29–May 8, 2022. However, due to one of the actor's injury during a performance of the play, future performances were postponed. A fourth stage play adaptation, titled ''My Hero Academia: The "Ultra" Stage: The Best Hero'', was announced at the Jump Festa '23 event in December 2022. It ran from April 29–May 7, May 12–14, and May 19–21, 2023.


Art and guidebooks

A ''My Hero Academia''
art book Artists' books (or book arts or book objects) are works of art that utilize the form of the book. They are often published in small editions, though they are sometimes produced as one-of-a-kind objects. Overview Artists' books have employed a ...
and three guidebooks have been released by Sheuisha. The art book, titled , was released on May 7, 2016. The first guidebook, titled was published on May 2, 2016. Accompanying the anime, the second guidebook, titled was released on September 4, 2017. The third guidebook, titled was released on October 4, 2019.


Other media

A
drama CD Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatized, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine ...
titled bundled with a limited edition of the seventh volume of the manga, released before the anime. Kōhei Horikoshi provides the original story and supervised the project, and the script is written by Yōsuke Kuroda who also wrote for the anime series. An interactive puzzle-solving event called "Heroes Dead End Program" was held on July 29 and 30, 2017. An
exhibit Exhibit may refer to: *Exhibit (legal), evidence in physical form brought before the court **Demonstrative evidence, exhibits and other physical forms of evidence used in court to demonstrate, show, depict, inform or teach relevant information to ...
of the series ran in Tokyo's Ikebukuro Sunshine City from September 30 to October 8, 2018. An
art exhibition An art exhibition is traditionally the space in which art objects (in the most general sense) meet an audience. The exhibit is universally understood to be for some temporary period unless, as is rarely true, it is stated to be a "permanent exhib ...
, titled "My Hero Academia Drawing Smash", ran in Tokyo from April 23 to June 27, 2021, and in Osaka from July 16 to September 5, 2021. An exhibition with a theme of Heroes vs. Villains, titled ''My Hero Academia Anime: All-Out War Arc Exhibition'', is scheduled to run in various cities in Japan from April to September 2023.


Reception


Popularity

The story has been noted to take inspiration from elements in
superhero comics Superhero comics are one of the most common genres of American comic books. The genre rose to prominence in the 1930s and became extremely popular in the 1940s and has remained the dominant form of comic book in North America since the 1960s. Su ...
, such as the aesthetics of its characters, and due to the popularity of the series, characters of ''My Hero Academia'' were used to promote the
Marvel Studios Marvel Studios, LLC (originally known as Marvel Films from 1993 to 1996) is an American film and television production company that is a subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios, a division of the Walt Disney Company. Marvel Studios produces the Mar ...
film '' Avengers: Infinity War''. Before the anime adaptation's premiere, ''
Naruto ''Naruto'' is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Masashi Kishimoto. It tells the story of Naruto Uzumaki, a young ninja who seeks recognition from his peers and dreams of becoming the Hokage, the leader of his village. T ...
''s creator
Masashi Kishimoto is a Japanese manga artist. His manga series, ''Naruto'', which was in serialization from 1999 to 2014, has sold over 250 million copies worldwide in 46 countries as of May 2019. The series has been adapted into two anime and multiple films, vi ...
praised
Kōhei Horikoshi is a Japanese manga artist known for creating the manga series '' Ōmagadoki Dōbutsuen'', '' Barrage'' and ''My Hero Academia'', all of which have been serialized in Shueisha's ''shōnen'' manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Jump''. Horikoshi is ...
's work, believing it would be a success overseas. ''
One Piece ''One Piece'' (stylized in all caps) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda. It has been serialized in Shueisha's ''shōnen'' manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' since July 1997, with its individual chapte ...
'' creator,
Eiichiro Oda is a Japanese manga artist and the creator of the series ''One Piece'' (1997–present). With more than 516.5 million ''tankōbon'' copies in circulation worldwide, ''One Piece'' is both the best-selling manga in history and the best-se ...
, also praised the series. The anime was popular with Japanese readers of ''Charapedia'', who voted it the fourth best anime show of Q2 2017. The cosplayers as characters were also popular especially in Japan, where a poll ranked ninth in 2017. According to the retailer
Zavvi Zavvi is an online retailer of entertainment products, including Blu-rays, collectables, homeware and toys. Originally a physical retailer, the brand has been online only since it was bought from administration by The Hut Group in 2009. History ...
, where they surveyed
Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...
hashtags containing franchise names followed by the term "cosplay", ''My Hero Academia'' is the most popular franchise among cosplayers worldwide with 2,377,476 posts, ranking above franchises such as
DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...
,
Marvel Marvel may refer to: Business * Marvel Entertainment, an American entertainment company ** Marvel Comics, the primary imprint of Marvel Entertainment ** Marvel Universe, a fictional shared universe ** Marvel Music, an imprint of Marvel Comics ...
,
Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
, ''
Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop-culture Cultural impact of S ...
'', ''
Naruto ''Naruto'' is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Masashi Kishimoto. It tells the story of Naruto Uzumaki, a young ninja who seeks recognition from his peers and dreams of becoming the Hokage, the leader of his village. T ...
'', ''
Attack on Titan is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Hajime Isayama. It is set in a world where humanity is forced to live in cities surrounded by three enormous walls that protect them from gigantic man-eating humanoids referred to as ...
'', ''
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Koyoharu Gotouge. It follows teenage Tanjiro Kamado, who strives to become a demon slayer after his family was slaughtered and his younger sister, Nezuko Kamado, Nezuko, turned into a ...
'', ''
Pokémon (an abbreviation for in Japan) is a Japanese media franchise managed by The Pokémon Company, founded by Nintendo, Game Freak, and Creatures (company), Creatures, the owners of the trademark and copyright of the franchise. In terms of ...
'', and ''
Sailor Moon is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Naoko Takeuchi. It was originally serialized in Kodansha's ''shōjo'' manga magazine ''Nakayoshi'' from 1991 to 1997; the 52 individual chapters were published in 18 volumes. The seri ...
''. The retailer stated that the result demonstrates the "recent growth of anime". They also surveyed hashtags containing character names, where three ''My Hero Academia'' characters placed in the top ten rankings: Izuku ranked fifth with 224,429 posts, Shoto came in at seventh with 177,161 posts, and Katsuki at ninth with 147,600 posts. The anime had also received high TV ratings and has consistently ranked among the top ten animated shows in Japan, since the release of its second season. In the United States, ''My Hero Academia'' was the second most "in-demand" TV title in the last 60 days in 2020 according to ''
Observer An observer is one who engages in observation or in watching an experiment. Observer may also refer to: Computer science and information theory * In information theory, any system which receives information from an object * State observer in con ...
'', which tracks popularity through social media, fan ratings, and piracy. In 2021, the series won the "Most In-Demand Anime Series of 2020" at the third Global TV Demand Awards. In April of the same year, the fifth season of ''My Hero Academia'' set the record for the most-watched premiere of any series on
MyAnimeList MyAnimeList, often abbreviated as MAL, is an anime and manga social networking and social cataloging application website run by volunteers. The site provides its users with a list-like system to organize and score anime and manga. It facilita ...
, surpassing the other anime titles such as '' Attack on Titan: The Final Season'', ''The Promised Neverland'' second season, and '' Dr. Stone: Stone Wars''. With the premiere of its sixth season on October 1, 2022, ''My Hero Academia'' earned a television rating of 3.9% (an improvement from the previous season's 3.2%) and ranked as the fourth-most watched anime, ahead of ''
One Piece ''One Piece'' (stylized in all caps) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda. It has been serialized in Shueisha's ''shōnen'' manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' since July 1997, with its individual chapte ...
'' in the average household viewership in Japan. The sixth season's fifth episode garnering over 3.01 million viewers across 2.26 million households in the television, making it one of the most-watched episodes of the series. It was also an increase of over 325,000 viewers from its season premiere which had an individual viewership rating of 2.1%, and was viewed by over 2.64 million people. By December 22, 2022, ''My Hero Academia'' was ranked as the fifth "Most-Watched Anime in Japan" for December 2022. The sixth season's finale was watched by over 2.01 million viewers in the television. On
Tumblr Tumblr (stylized as tumblr; pronounced "tumbler") is an American microblogging and social networking website founded by David Karp in 2007 and currently owned by Automattic. The service allows users to post multimedia and other content to a sho ...
's 2020 Year in Review, which highlights the largest communities,
fandom A fandom is a subculture composed of fans characterized by a feeling of empathy and camaraderie with others who share a common interest. Fans typically are interested in even minor details of the objects of their fandom and spend a significant ...
s, and trends on the platform throughout the year, the series ranked first on the Top Anime & Manga Shows category. The characters also placed high in the rankings of Top Anime & Manga Characters category, with 7 of the top 10 spots occupied the list.
Izuku Midoriya , also known by his hero name , is a superhero and the main protagonist of the manga series ''My Hero Academia'', created by Kōhei Horikoshi. In the series, he is an ambitious first-year high schooler and the 9th (and current) holder of "One ...
ranked first and
Katsuki Bakugo , also known by his nickname and his hero name , is a superhero and one of the main protagonists of the manga series ''My Hero Academia'', created by Kōhei Horikoshi. His Quirk is , which allows him to make explosions from his hands by detonati ...
, Dabi, Shouta Aizawa,
Hawks Hawks are birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. They are widely distributed and are found on all continents except Antarctica. * The subfamily Accipitrinae includes goshawks, sparrowhawks, sharp-shinned hawks and others. This subfamily a ...
,
Shoto Todoroki , also known by the mononym , is a superhero and one of the main protagonists of the manga series ''My Hero Academia'', created by Kōhei Horikoshi. Being the only child who inherited both Endeavor and Rei's Quirks, Shoto was often separated from ...
and Eijiro Kirishima placed second, third, fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth respectively. ''My Hero Academia'' was also ranked ninth on Tumblr's Top 20 overall in the 2020 list. The series was #17 on
Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
Japan's Trend Awards in 2021, based on the social network's top
trending topics Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, an ...
of the year.


Manga

''My Hero Academia'' ranked second on the "Nationwide Bookstore Employees' Recommended Comics of 2015" poll by Honya Club online bookstore. On
Takarajimasha is a Japanese publishing company based in Chiyoda, Tokyo. It is known for publishing subculture-oriented fashion magazines aimed at teens, fashion magazines in general, as well as guide books. History The company was founded on September 22, ...
's ''
Kono Manga ga Sugoi! is an annual reference mook series published by Takarajimasha since 2005 featuring yearly rankings and reviews of manga. The rankings are compiled by surveying people in the manga and publishing industry. The series is part of Takarajimasha's ...
'' ranking of top 20 manga for male readers, the series ranked fifth on the 2016 list. ''My Hero Academia'' ranked 26th on the 2015 "Book of the Year" list by ''
Da Vinci Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 14522 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, Drawing, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially res ...
'' magazine; it ranked 22nd on the 2016 list; sixteenth on the 2018 list; 37th on the 2019 list; 41st on the 2020 list; 34th on the 2021 list; and 22nd on the 2022 list. The manga won the Mandō Kobayashi Manga Grand Prix 2015, created by comedian and manga enthusiast
Kendo Kobayashi is a Japanese comedian and actor.''Mokuyō Junk Zero: Kendo Kobayashi no Temeoko''. TBS Radio. 18 Jun 2009. His real and former stage name is . He is nicknamed , , and . He is represented with Yoshimoto Creative Agency of Yoshimoto Kogyo in Tokyo ...
, in which each year's winner is decided based on his personal taste. The series was chosen as one of the Best Manga at the
Comic-Con International San Diego Comic-Con International is a comic book convention and nonprofit multi-genre entertainment event held annually in San Diego, California since 1970. The name, as given on its website, is Comic-Con International: San Diego; but it is c ...
Best & Worst Manga in 2018 and 2019.
Barnes & Noble Barnes & Noble Booksellers is an American bookseller. It is a Fortune 1000 company and the bookseller with the largest number of retail outlets in the United States. As of July 7, 2020, the company operates 614 retail stores across all 50 U. ...
named it on their list of "Our Favorite Manga of 2018". Cold Cobra of ''Anime UK News'' picked the series for his list of "best manga of 2010s". On
TV Asahi JOEX-DTV (channel 5), branded as (also known as EX and and stylized as TV asahi), is a television station that is owned and operated by the subsidiary of certified broadcasting holding company , itself controlled by The Asahi Shimbun Compan ...
's Manga Sōsenkyo 2021 poll, in which 150,000 people voted for their top 100 manga series, ''My Hero Academia'' ranked sixteenth. On a 2021 survey conducted by LINE Research asking Japanese high school students what manga series they are currently into, the series ranked second among boys.


Sales

''My Hero Academia'' has been a largely commercial success since the manga's release; in 2014, the first volume reached seventh place on the weekly
Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan and Western music. It started as, which was founded by Sōkō Koike in Nov ...
's manga chart with 71,575 copies sold. It sold out almost immediately on its first printing. Volume two reached sixth place, with 167,531 copies and, by January 18, 2015, had sold 205,179 copies. In April 2015, volume three reached eighth place with 254,111 copies. Volume four reached sixth with 259,137 in June, and volume five peaked at ninth place with 279,414 copies in August. By March 2017, the manga had over 10 million copies in circulation; it had over 13 million copies in circulation by February 2018; over 15 million copies in circulation by May 2018; over 16 million copies in circulation by August 2018; over 17 million copies in circulation by September 2018; over 20 million copies in circulation by December 2018. over 21 million copies in circulation by February 2019; over 26 million copies in circulation by December 2019; over 30 million copies in circulation by January 2021; over 50 million copies in circulation by April 2021, with 37 million being sold in Japan and the remaining 13 million in the rest of the world; over 65 million copies in circulation by January 2022, with 45 million being sold in Japan and the remaining 20 million elsewhere; and over 85 million copies in circulation by February 2023. ''My Hero Academia'' was the sixth best-selling manga series in the first half of 2017, with over 2 million copies sold, while volumes 12 and 13 were some of the top 50 best-selling manga volumes. By the end of the year, it was the fourth best-selling manga series with over 5.8 million copies sold, while volumes 12–15 were among the 50 best-selling manga volumes. In 2018, the seventeenth volume of the manga had received an initial print run of 600,000 copies. It was the fifth best-selling manga in the first half of 2018 with over 2.5 million copies sold, while volumes 17 and 18 were the thirteenth and seventeenth best-selling manga volumes, respectively. The series was ranked sixth on
Rakuten () is a Japanese technology conglomerate based in Tokyo, founded by Hiroshi Mikitani in 1997. Centered around Rakuten Ichiba, its businesses include financial services utilizing financial technology, as well as digital content and communicati ...
's Top 20 Best Selling Digital Manga of 2018. It was the second best-selling manga in 2018, behind ''One Piece'', with over 6.7 million copies sold; volumes 17–20 were among the 50 best-selling manga volumes, having sold over 3 million copies combined. The 22nd volume topped the Oricon's ranking sales chart list in February 2019, with 576,148 copies sold. It was the fourth best-selling manga in the first half of 2019, with over 3.1 million copies sold; volumes 21–23 were among the 50 best-selling manga volumes of the year. It was the sixth best-selling manga in 2019, with over 5 million copies sold. The ''My Hero Academia'' franchise sales generated an estimated revenue of ¥16 billion in Japan between 2016 and 2020. Along with ''
One-Punch Man is a Japanese superhero manga series created by One. It tells the story of Saitama, a superhero who, because he can defeat any opponent with a single punch, grows bored from a lack of challenge. One wrote the original webcomic manga v ...
'', it had an initial print run of 660,000 copies, with its 26th volume in 2020. It was the fifth best-selling manga in the first half of 2020, with 3,339,656 million copies sold. The series was ranked twelfth on Rakuten's Top 20 Best Selling Digital Manga of 2020. It was the eighth best-selling manga series in 2020, with over 6 million copies sold. The 29th volume had an initial print run of 680,000 copies in 2021. It was the fifth best-selling manga in 2021 and 2022, with over 7 million and 5.3 million copies sold, respectively; volumes 33–35 were among the 30 best-selling manga volumes of 2022. The series was ranked eighth on Rakuten's Top 20 Best Selling Digital Manga of 2021, and ninth in 2022. In North America, volumes of ''My Hero Academia'' appeared on ''The New York Times Manga Best Seller'' list for several weeks, with volume one, which released in August 2015, debuting at fourth place. The volumes have also ranked on NPD
BookScan BookScan is a data provider for the book publishing industry that compiles point of sale data for book sales, owned by The NPD Group in the United States and the Nielsen Company in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, India, South ...
's monthly top 20 adult graphic novels list since August 2016. In Q4 2018, ''My Hero Academia'' was the best-selling manga franchise according to ''
ICv2 ''ICv2'' is an online trade magazine that covers geek culture for retailers. ''ICv2s main areas of focus are comic books, anime, gaming, and show business products. The site offers news, reviews, analysis, and sales information for retailers an ...
''. Several volumes of the manga have also ranked on ''The New York Times'' Graphic Books and Manga bestseller monthly list since November 2019. Volumes 1 and 26 ranked third and sixth, respectively, on
Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of B ...
's bestseller list in March 2021. Volume 28 also charted on the Publishers Weekly's bestseller list in September 2021, ranking fifth. According to ''ICv2'', ''My Hero Academia'' was the fifth best-selling manga franchise for Q4 2021 (September–December) in the United States. According to NPD BookScan, seven volumes of ''My Hero Academia'' were ranked among the top 20 highest-selling manga volumes in 2021. The first volume had over 1.2 million copies in circulation by 2022 and the franchise as a whole has 10 million copies in circulation in the United States.


Critical reception

Nick Creamer of ''
Anime News Network Anime News Network (ANN) is a news website that reports on the status of anime, manga, video games, Japanese popular music and other related cultures within North America, Australia, Southeast Asia and Japan. The website offers reviews and oth ...
'' gave the first volume a B. Creamer praised the art, describing it as "absolutely professional". He labeled Horikoshi's art as "consistent and highly polished", but also stated that it was fast-paced and very sharply drawn. He praised the plot and characters, saying that despite it feeling like a typical ''shōnen'' plot, it did well enough to still feel fresh and entertaining. He also stated that the characters has a great energy and personality. Isaac Akers from ''The Fandom Post'' ranked the second volume as a B+. He praised the art, saying that Horikoshi's character designs and art bolster the volume's ability to feel as if it does everything it does just because the volume likes doing it. He concluded that ''My Hero Academia'' was a difficult series to dislike, making it as the "real joy to read" by executing on the author's ideas and enough nerve and twist. Sean Gaffney from ''A Case Suitable for Treatment'' referred to the art as "smooth" and complemented how it flows with the action. Gaffney also praised the story, characters, and fight scenes, stating that the story flows nicely with each of their individual personalities, while the fight scenes look smooth and non-confusing. In a review of the second volume, Leroy Douresseaux from ''Comic Book Bin'' also praised the story, specifically the way it tells comedy and drama. He also compared the series to the other superhero works like ''
Tiger & Bunny ''Tiger & Bunny'' (stylized as ''TIGER & BUNNY'') is a 2011 Japanese anime superhero television series produced by Sunrise and directed by Keiichi Sato. The screenplay was written by Masafumi Nishida with original character design by Ma ...
'' and ''One-Punch Man'', stating that ''My Hero Academia'' proves that "manga can do superhero comic books that are every bit as imaginative as American superhero comics". Manga Bookshelf praised the first volume for its art, saying that it demonstrated Horikoshi's skill very well, though criticizing it for having too much narration at some points. Reviewing volumes 1 to 19, Michelle Smith from ''Soliloquy in Blue'' called the plot "very good", but also stated that the main reason she liked the series was the characters, specifically praising most of the main cast. However, she criticized the series for not giving some of the female characters enough spotlight despite praising their varied character designs and personalities.


Accolades


Anime

On the
review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...
website
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, the first season of ''My Hero Academia'' holds an approval rating of 100% based on 9 reviews, with an average rating of 8.7/10. At Crunchyroll's inaugural Anime Awards in 2017, Izuku was awarded Hero of the Year while the anime series was nominated in six other categories including Anime of the Year. At the
2nd Crunchyroll Anime Awards The 2nd Crunchyroll Anime Awards were held on February 24, 2018, honoring excellence in anime from 2017. The nominees were announced on January 18. Voting began on January 22, and was held in three separate rounds from January 22 to February 11. T ...
in 2018, the second season of the anime won seven out of ten nominations: Best Action, Best Animation, Best Opening ("Peace Sign"), Best Girl (
Ochaco Uraraka The ''My Hero Academia'' manga and anime series features a vast world with an extensive cast of characters created by Kōhei Horikoshi. The series takes place in a fictional world where more than 80% of the global population possesses some for ...
), Best Boy (Shoto Todoroki), Best Villain (
Stain A stain is a discoloration that can be clearly distinguished from the surface, material, or medium it is found upon. They are caused by the chemical or physical interaction of two dissimilar materials. Accidental staining may make materials app ...
), and Best Hero (Izuku Midoriya) categories;
Christopher Sabat Christopher Robin Sabat is an American voice actor, voice director, ADR engineer, and line producer working for Funimation, and OkraTron 5000. Some of his prominent roles in animations and anime include Vegeta and Piccolo in '' Dragon Ball'', R ...
also received the Industry Icon Award for his role as
All Might The ''My Hero Academia'' manga and anime series features a vast world with an extensive cast of characters created by Kōhei Horikoshi. The series takes place in a fictional world where more than 80% of the global population possesses some for ...
. The official music video of the second season's opening, "Peace Sign" by
Kenshi Yonezu is a Japanese musician, singer-songwriter, record producer and illustrator who began releasing Vocaloid music under the stage name in 2009. In 2012, he debuted under his real name, releasing music with his own voice. He has sold at least 4.2 mi ...
, reached 48.6 million views on
YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
, being one of the top trending videos of 2017. The series ranked fourteenth at the
Tokyo Anime Award Festival The Tokyo Anime Awards started in 2002, but was named in 2005. The first, second and third award ceremonies were simply named 'Competition'. The award ceremonies were held at the Tokyo International Anime Fair (TAF) until 2013. In 2014, after the ...
in the 2017 Best 100 TV Anime category. It ranked first in a "mega poll" of the readers for Best Anime of 2017 and 2018 by ''Anime News Network''. In January 2021, it was revealed that the anime series was the fourth most-watched anime series on Crunchyroll in 2020, being watched in 23 countries and territories, including North America, Central America, South America, and Europe.


Sales

''My Hero Academia'' sales have been high and the series has been successful in Japan since the release of the anime. The five volumes of the first season on
Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...
and
DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...
were released in Japan, with each release appearing in Oricon's Animation Blu-ray and Animation DVD disc ranking. The first Blu-ray edition of ''My Hero Academia'' was ranked fifth in the first week of Oricon's Blu-ray Disc ranking, while the first DVD edition ranked fourth with 2,184 copies sold. The second Blu-ray and DVD sets also ranked, with the Blu-ray edition coming in sixth and DVD fifth for a week. The third Blu-ray edition ranked fourth with 1,700 copies sold, while the DVD release was eighth with 1,184 copies sold. The fourth Blu-ray and DVD collections ranked fifth and fourth, respectively. The fifth Blu-ray and DVD release sales ranked higher than the previous volumes; the Blu-ray came in at third with 1,473 copies sold and the DVD ranked second with 1,068 copies sold in a week. Four volumes of the second season on Blu-ray and DVD also appeared in Oricon's Animation Blu-ray and DVD disc ranking. The first Blu-ray edition ranked seventh, while the DVD ranked fifth. The third Blu-ray edition was among the top 20 in Oricon's Animation Blu-ray disc ranking, while the DVD was tenth among the 30 Animation DVD rankings. The seventh Blu-ray and DVD ranked eighth, while the eighth Blu-ray and DVD sets ranked fourth. The second season's opening theme, "Peace Sign" by Kenshi Yonezu, topped the ''Billboard'' charts on the
Billboard Japan Hot 100 The ''Billboard Japan'' Hot 100 is a record chart in Japan for songs. It has been compiled by ''Billboard Japan'' and '' Hanshin Contents Link'' since February 2008. The chart is updated every Wednesday at Billboard-japan.com ( JST) and every Thur ...
; it peaked at number two on the
Oricon charts , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan and Western music. It started as, which was founded by Sōkō Koike in Nove ...
. By the end of 2017, the "
Bootleg Bootleg or bootlegging most often refers to: * Bootleg recording, an audio or video recording released unofficially * Rum-running, the illegal business of transporting and trading in alcoholic beverages, hence: ** Moonshine, or illicitly made ...
" soundtrack album including "Peace Sign" became the top-selling anime CD album on Oricon's chart with 241,754 copies sold. It was the top-selling anime CD album in the first half of 2018 with 134,777 copies sold; the other compilation album, ''LiSA BEST: Day'', which includes the second ending theme song of the second season, "Datte Atashi no Hero" by
LiSA Lisa or LISA may refer to: People People with the mononym * Lisa Lisa (born 1967), American actress and lead singer of the Cult Jam * Lisa (Japanese musician, born 1974), stylized "LISA", Japanese singer and producer * Lisa Komine (born 1978), J ...
, ranked fifth on Oricon's chart simultaneously. Seven volumes of the third season on Blu-ray and DVD appeared in Oricon's Animation Blu-ray and DVD disc ranking, respectively. The first Blu-ray edition ranked ninth, while the DVD ranked third. The second Blu-ray edition ranked sixth, while the DVD ranked fifth. The third Blu-ray edition ranked fourth, while the DVD ranked second. The fourth Blu-ray and DVD sets ranked fifth and sixth, respectively. The fifth Blu-ray set ranked third with 1,194 copies sold, while the DVD ranked second. The seventh Blu-ray and DVD sets ranked ninth and sixth, respectively. The eighth Blu-ray and DVD sets ranked fourth and third, respectively. By the end of 2018, "Bootleg" became the top-selling anime CD album for the second consecutive year while ''LiSA BEST: Day'' ranked ninth on Oricon's chart.


Critical reception

Alex Osborn of ''
IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...
'' gave the first season a nine out of ten rating, praising its action, story, and characters, while criticizing its villains as underdeveloped. Osborn also stated that "its excellent character design only elevates the memorable cast even further". He concluded that "the first season of ''My Hero Academia'' delivers thirteen episodes of fantastic action, elevated by a heartfelt story that's wrapped around a core cast of memorable and relatable characters". In his review for the second season, Osborn praised it as "truly something special", complimenting the animation, character developments, and emotions. He called it as "one of the best TV shows" he had ever watched. Tom Speelman of ''
Polygon In geometry, a polygon () is a plane figure that is described by a finite number of straight line segments connected to form a closed ''polygonal chain'' (or ''polygonal circuit''). The bounded plane region, the bounding circuit, or the two toge ...
'' praised the anime for its animation, action and characters. Speelman also stated that compared to other superhero teams like ''
X-Men The X-Men are a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, first appearing in Uncanny X-Men, ''The X-Men'' #1 by artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby and writer/editor Stan Lee in 1963. Although initially cancelled in ...
'' or ''
Legion of Super-Heroes The Legion of Super-Heroes is a fictional superhero team appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Otto Binder and artist Al Plastino, the Legion is a group of superpowered beings living in the 30th and 31st c ...
'', ''My Hero Academia''s biggest asset is its huge cast, with even minor characters having a "fun look" or "interesting personality" for readers to latch onto. He noted that it has similarities to the other shows and comics like ''
Teen Titans The Teen Titans are a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, frequently in eponymous monthly series. As the group's name indicates, the members are teenage superheroes, many of whom have acted as sidekicks to DC ...
'', ''
Runaways Runaway, Runaways or Run Away may refer to: Engineering * Runaway reaction, a chemical reaction releasing more heat than what can be removed and becoming uncontrollable * Thermal runaway, self-increase of the reaction rate of an exothermic proce ...
'', or ''
Young Justice Young Justice is a fictional DC Comics superhero team consisting of teenaged heroes. The team was formed in 1998 when DC's usual teen hero group, the Teen Titans, had become adults and changed their name to the Titans. Like the original ''Teen ...
'', though he felt its closest thematic analog is the 2005 Disney film '' Sky High''. Marina Garrow from ''Anime Feminist'' praised the way the plot handles damsel-in-distress elements, especially when compared to other ''shōnen'' series, stating that the female characters are not the only characters that need saving, and when they do need saving, the situations are realistic and not overexaggerated. Chris Beveridge from ''The Fandom Post'' also praised the anime. He said that despite it being a long running series, it manages to not feel directionless and has several great moments. Nick Creamer from ''Anime News Network'' also praised the adaptation. He gave praise to the music and animation in the action scenes, while criticizing the pacing and stating that the animation can be average at times. In his review of the second season, he gave it praise for the improvements to both pacing and animation. Sam Leach of ''Anime News Network'' highlighted the 49th episode, which is the final battle between All Might and All For One. Leach wrote: "It was unavoidable that this was going to be a beautiful episode. That bloodied-up All Might is striking in either form, and you can tell they pulled out all the stops in making the big hits as intense and crazy as possible. From a pacing perspective, I'm really pleased with how this Bakugo Rescue arc played out." He concluded: "This is ''My Hero Academia''s proudest moment in the spotlight. Not only does it continue to be the darling of modern ''Shonen Jump'' with one of the mostly perfectly tuned anime adaptations a long-running series has ever received, this is an accomplishment of storytelling across the board." Both the original Japanese cast and the English dub received praise from critics. Osborn applauded the casting choices and overall voice work, adding that zuku's voice actor
Daiki Yamashita is a Japanese voice actor affiliated with Arts Vision. He is best known for voicing the character Izuku Midoriya in the popular shonen anime ''My Hero Academia''. He won the ''Best Male Newcomer'' award at the 8th Seiyu Awards. Filmography Ani ...
is a "perfect fit" in the Japanese dub, while praising
Justin Briner Justin Briner is an American voice actor. He has provided voices for English-language versions of Japanese anime films and television series with Funimation. He is best known for his roles as Izuku "Deku" Midoriya in ''My Hero Academia'', Mikae ...
's performance in English as excellent and standout. Creamer rated both equally, stating that the dub cast of the major characters generally fits their roles very well, though criticizing some of the background characters' performances. Andy Hanley from ''UK Anime Network'' concured, stating both casts had strong performances, however, he gave special praise to the dub cast, saying that each actor fits their role very well. Speelman stated that both Japanese and English casts know exactly how to make these roles work. He noted that both Yamashita and Briner's voice as Izuku "nail the optimistic nerdiness and heroic attitude" with Briner "channeling a bit of
Morty Smith Mortimer Chauncey "Morty" Smith, Sr. is one of the eponymous characters from the American animated television series ''Rick and Morty''. Created by Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon, and voiced by the former, Morty is a 14-year-old boy loosely ins ...
for good measure". He also praised the voice performances of All Might, noting that Japanese voice actor
Kenta Miyake is a Japanese voice actor and narrator who is affiliated with 81 Produce. Career Miyake was born in Okinawa Prefecture. As a teenager, he dreamed of becoming a voice actor in hopes of meeting an actress that he admired and wanted to co-star wit ...
"nails the goofy earnestness of the part", while English voice actor Christopher Sabat "was essentially
Superman Superman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, and debuted in the comic book ''Action Comics'' #1 (cover-dated June 1938 and publi ...
", Speelman felt was a "great fit". The anime series has been named as one of the best of the 2010s in several publications. Writing for ''
Comic Book Resources ''Comic Book Resources'', also known by the initialism CBR, is a website dedicated to the coverage of comic book–related news and discussion. History Comic Book Resources was founded by Jonah Weiland in 1995 as a development of the Kingdom Co ...
'', Sage Ashford ranked it fourth on his list, praising its character development. Although he criticized the series' originality, he felt it executes the classic ''shōnen'' tropes perfectly, describing it as the "most finely tuned battle shonen ever created". '' Paste'' ranked ''My Hero Academia'' among the top 50 anime of all time. In November 2019, ''Polygon'' named it as one of the best anime of the 2010s. Austen Goslin wrote that "
he show He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' in ...
feels like the evolution of shonen. While the earlier days of action shonen often relegated plot as merely a bridge between two fights, ''My Hero Academia'' elevates it to the main attraction". In January 2020, ''IGN'' and ''
Thrillist Thrillist is an online media website covering food, drink, travel and entertainment. The company was founded in 2004 and is based in New York City, United States. In October 2016, Thrillist merged with internet brands '' The Dodo'', NowThis News ...
'' named it among the best anime series of the 2010s. ''Japan Web Magazine'' ranked the series 25th on its list of "30 Best Anime of All Time".


Accolades


Unit 731 controversy

In early 2020, the series caused a controversy in South Korea and China for a character's name allegedly referencing
Unit 731 , short for Manshu Detachment 731 and also known as the Kamo Detachment and Ishii Unit, was a covert biological and chemical warfare research and development unit of the Imperial Japanese Army that engaged in lethal human experimentatio ...
, an infamous Imperial Japanese army unit known for vivisecting captured Chinese, Korean, and Russian individuals. In response, it has been removed from digital platforms in China, and the character's name was changed to no longer reference Unit 731. A day prior, both ''
Weekly Shōnen Jump is a weekly ''shōnen'' manga anthology published in Japan by Shueisha under the ''Jump'' line of magazines. The manga series within the magazine consist of many action scenes and a fair amount of comedy. The chapters of the series that run ...
'' manga magazine publisher
Shueisha (lit. "Gathering of Intellect Publishing Co., Ltd.") is a Japanese company headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. The company was established in 1925 as the entertainment-related publishing division of Japanese publisher Shogakukan. The foll ...
and the manga's author Kōhei Horikoshi issued an individual apology statements on Twitter. In the aftermath of the manga's removal from its services in China, the English-language news service Abacus reached out to
bilibili Bilibili (stylized bilibili), nicknamed B Site, is a video sharing website based in Shanghai where users can submit, view and add overlaid commentary on videos. Since the mid-2010s, Bilibili began to expand to a broader audience from its origi ...
and
Tencent Tencent Holdings Ltd. () is a Chinese multinational technology and entertainment conglomerate and holding company headquartered in Shenzhen. It is one of the highest grossing multimedia companies in the world based on revenue. It is also the w ...
for its request. The former stated that the removal was "in accordance with China's policies" but declined to comment further, while the latter did not respond to Abacus' request for comment. The character's name was changed again by the digital version of ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' following the backlash. Shueisha promised that "going forward, we intend to devote our energies toward deepening our understanding of a variety of historical and cultural matters." Both the publisher and manga's creator reiterated that the reference to war crimes within the character's name was wholly unintentional.


Notes


References


External links

* * * at
Viz Media VIZ Media LLC is an American manga publisher, anime distributor and entertainment company headquartered in San Francisco, California. It was founded in 1986 as VIZ LLC. In 2005, VIZ LLC and ShoPro Entertainment merged to form the current VIZ M ...
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